Quote:
1. Will the health care plans offered to Members of Congress and Administration officials, including Cabinet officers, White House staff, and political appointees, be exempt from the proposed excise tax in the same manner as those covered under collective bargaining agreements?
2. Will the health care plans offered to federal employees, including over 382,000 employees making in excess of $100,000 a year, be exempt from the proposed excise tax in the same manner as those covered under collective bargaining agreements?
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1) In the Senate bill, all Members of Congress and congressional staff are required to purchase through through the Exchange:
d) MEMBERS OF CONGRESS IN THE EXCHANGE.
(i) REQUIREMENT. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, after the effective date of this subtitle, the only health plans that the Federal Government may make available to Members of Congress and congressional staff with respect to their service as a Member of Congress or congressional staff shall be health plans that are
(I) created under this Act (or an amendment made by this Act); or
(II) offered through an Exchange established under this Act (or an amendment made by this Act).
(ii) DEFINITIONS. In this section:
(I) MEMBER OF CONGRESS. The term Member of Congress means any member of the House of Representatives or the Senate.
(II) CONGRESSIONAL STAFF. The term congressional staff means all full-time and part-time employees employed by the official office of a Member of Congress, whether in Washington, DC or outside of Washington, DC.
2) Of all the plans available to federal employees in the FEHB program, only one reaches the level of cost at which it would be taxed as a high end plan....And, the reference to federal employees making over $100K has nothing to do with the tax.